


Messed Up

by unityManipulator



Series: R-100 (Story) [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-03 02:58:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6593962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unityManipulator/pseuds/unityManipulator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Maybe we work so well together because we’re both so messed up.”<br/>When you look over, he’s smiling, his legs dangling over the edge of the roof. His hand unconsciously reaches over to meet yours, gently covering your fingers with his own.<br/>---<br/>Character study between Zombie and Ryder. Zombie's a little touchy about his condition. Ryder's a little touchy about his girlfriend. They both have some issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Messed Up

     "Maybe we work so well together _because_ we’re both so messed up.”

     When you look over, he’s smiling, his legs dangling over the edge of the roof. His hand unconsciously reaches over to meet yours, gently covering your fingers with his own.

   “Ryder, you’re not messed up.” You pull your hand out of his, despite how much you wish you could keep holding it.

   “I _am_ , though. I had to watch my own girlfriend turn into a walker, okay? I had to pull the trigger on her. Now, I promised her I’d eliminate every last one of them, and now…” He trails off, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. “Now I, no offense, I mean, but now I’m training one, basically.”

   You tense. “You’re _what_ , Ryder?” You spit the words before you even realize you’d thought them. “You think I’m just another walker, is that it? Well, I didn’t decide this, okay? You think I _wanted_ to get infected? Hell no! I had to leave everything I’d ever known because nobody wants a damn _carrier_ anywhere near them!” You’re yelling now, and it’s the only sound in the otherwise-silent compound.

   “Zombie, it was a _meth lab_! You lived in Crystal City, for god’s sake! That wasn’t exactly a healthy, supportive family environment.” Ryder is yelling too. You’d be surprised if anyone managed to sleep through this.

   “Well, you know what? You’re hardly supportive yourself!” You lower your voice comically to mock him, your blood boiling. “‘Durr hurr, I’m Ryder! I’ve got a crap-ton of issues cause my girlfriend couldn’t defend herself worth a damn, and now I’m gonna kill every walker! While I’m at it, let’s kill a bunch of innocent people just cause they’ve got something they can’t control!’ Do you have any _idea_ how you look, or do you just not care?”

   He flips you off, then stands up and storms to the stairs. You can hear his boots on the metal sheeting, each step clanging with enough force to let you know that he’s stomping. When he gets to the bottom and exits the building, he looks back up and shouts up to you. “You know what, Zombie? I wish you _could_ die, cause I wouldn’t have any issue killing you right about now!” Another bird flies your way, and then he turns and stalks to the barracks.

   You’re sure he knows how much that hurts. You’d told him how scared you were about this. He knew that while you didn’t have issues exploiting the fact that you couldn’t be killed, you didn’t want to be immortal at all, if this even _was_ immortality. As far as anyone knew, this was something that you were alone in. You were the first case of this strange mutation.

   You push off the ledge you’d been sitting on, relishing the feeling of freefall off a building before tucking into a ball and rolling as you landed. As awesome as it looked when you landed on your feet, the healing _hurt_. As you made your own way back to the room you shared with Ryder, you mentally berated yourself over and over again.

After all, he was right. You were both messed up beyond any hope of repair, and yet you both tried to fix each other.

**Author's Note:**

> visit my tumblr @ motherfuckingmogar.tumblr.com or my deviantart @ unitymanipulator.deviantart.com


End file.
